T&T spends a staggering $1 billion annually to deal with issues arising out of violence which includes interpersonal violence.
That figure was disclosed by Professor Andres Rengifo of Rutgers University who examined the topic, “Economic Cost of Crime and Violence,” at the regional symposium which looked at violence as a public health issue, that was held this week at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port-of-Spain
He said violence harms the most vulnerable, mostly male and mostly poor people who are often at the margins of society.
This strain sometimes overwhelms a country’s resources.
Noting that some forms of violent crime in T&T have been increasing, Rengifo said that does not only include murder.
In fact, he noted that killings were a very small percentage of the overall violence facing T&T.
“Murders are only 600 plus compared to the number of other offences that are violent in nature like domestic violence expressed in physical injury...So while murders represent less than one per cent of all inter-personal violence incidents in Trinidad and Tobago, they represent about 20 per cent of the economic costs so for every one of those murders we estimate that they cost approximately US$350,000,” Rengifo further explained.
In examining the manifestations of violence, he said gang violence, for instance, is typically associated with murders, but they may also be associated with woundings and shootings, school fights and other forms of violence that are less likely to be recorded and this is the same thing with youth violence.
“Youth violence is not a crime per se. It is expressed through several different indicators of specific crimes in the legal codes,” Rengifo added.
Apart from the cost to run various institutions and implementing measures to tackle violence, he noted there are other costs such as the expense incurred by victims.
“Costs that address their mental health concerns, to the criminal justice system and Government in general and other tangible costs associated with the provision of school safety, private security and opportunity cost for people who are not in the labour market and decide to engage in a life of violence,” he said.
Hence, the cost of crime goes far beyond just the economics of crime, Dr Randy Seepersad of the University of the West Indies who also spoke noted.
“It is psychological, it is social and it affects the health care system. It affects communities and families.
“Even when we talk about the cost of crime and we look at the things that are measurable and we calculate prison costs and the costs that go into the police service, there are other costs that we sometimes neglect,” Seepersad explained.
He said crime can negatively affect investments from external businesses and tourism among others, noting that such costs comprise both tangle and the intangibles.
“When we look at the cost of crime it is very high in the Caribbean compared to other parts of the world. Quite importantly, is what we know from police statistics that it is really just a fraction of all the crime that is happening “ Seepersad further outlined.
He said if one examines victimisation surveys around the world, these will show there is far more crime happening than what is really reflected in the police statistics “many, many times over.”
“Sometimes when we go to various sources to estimate the economic cost of crime, if we rely only on the official reports then we very severely underestimate the economic cost of crime,” Seepersad added.
Additionally, he said the cost of crime goes far beyond its impact on businesses as this also includes the cost of imprisonment, the costs associated with the judicial system, the cost of the police service, not just the cost of the Ministry of National Security and health. He said, in addition, there is also the associated cost of intentional injuries, among others.
In providing statistics regarding businesses, Seepersad showed a graph reflecting perceptions of businesspeople on whether theft and disorder represented a serious obstacle to their operations.
“And you see certain countries standing out in terms of the issue being very serious or major obstacles: counties include Belize, Guyana and Jamaica but if you also look at Trinidad and Tobago the deeper colours show that a large proportion of persons in Trinidad and Tobago also believe that it is a very serious obstacle,” Seepersad added.
He also showed a chart denoting firms which have experienced losses as a result of various types of victimisation in Caribbean countries.
He said countries that really stand out include St Kitts and Nevis, Surname, Grenada and Dominica.
On the types of victimisation, Seepersad said cybersecurity is one of the major threats.
T&T was among the many Caribbean countries that saw a significant increase in attacks, especially ransomware, according to the TT Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (TT-CSIRT) of the Ministry of National Security in a report last year.
One such incident that made headlines was a ransomware attack that forced Massy Group, one of TT’s largest consumer goods and pharmaceutical suppliers, to close its stores.
The attackers paralysed the supermarket chain’s systems and exfiltrated over 216 gigabytes of data.
Seepersad also spoke about losses due to theft and vandalism as a percentage of annual sales which businesses faced.
He noted that certain countries such as Grenada, Jamaica Suriname, Guyana are above the average for the Caribbean where these issues are concerned.
On the percentage of money that businesses spend on security, Seepersad identified Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, St Kitts and Nevis Jamaica and Suriname among the countries that stand out as businesses that are forced to take additional measures to protect their properties.
Going forward, from a local and also from a regional perspective, Seepersad recommended that a more concerted effort needs to be made to lower crime statistics in the Caribbean. This can have a tremendous gain not just economically but monies can be funnelled into other needed areas like improving infrastructure and enhancing the education system.